* Nicolaus Kedegren <kedegren@gmail.com> [2006 Oct 25 14:00 -0500]:
> I can't keep my mouth shut any more,
> AFAIK, the name change is not pure Debian, it is a GNU thing. So what
> does it mean?
> To me it means that i can finally get a decent browser
> released under GNU, not under a proprietary license.
AFAIK, all of the Mozilla products are triple licensed and one of those
is the GPL. The only bits that are not are the artwork and then the
restrictions they place on the brand name, both of which violate the
DFSG. The source code is GNU and has been for some time.
> All the fun of the name, intentional and non-intentional puns are
> funny, but not more than so.
> people have a problem with "iceWeasel"? why? I believe that there are
> way to many S/W engineers (not to mentiom marketing people) that are
> hampered by the notion of PC.
Puns with regard to the naming of software is the lifeblood of the Free
Software community. GNU is a play on UNIX which itself was a play on
Multics.
> This is a prime example of what i call a "storm in a glass of water".
Or, a Tempest in a Teapot, perhaps?
> I think we all should be pleased with a GNU release of a great browser,
> and all of you who oppose, add "non-free" to your sources.list, or go
> to ubuntu, red hat, Xandros.... the list is long. To me, Debian stands
> for for freedom, freedom from oppressive licensing.
It appears that GNU intends to replace certain add-on functionality
with Free alternatives. They say on their page that all code will
retain the triple license, so GNU IceWeasel will be available under the
same terms as Mozilla releases it now.
I too use Debian for the freedom and excellence it provides. With each
passing year my use of non-free drops. As near as I can tell, I'm down
to Acrobat Reader, Sun Java, Flash, Madwifi for an Atheros wireless
card and ltmodem for a Lucent modem on my T23. Five ain't bad out of a
few hundred I use.
The first three may be replacable soon. KPDF does a great job and I'd
bet somebody will suggest a replacement for Sun Java. Flash sucks, but
there are times that I want to see stuff encoded in it. Madwifi and
ltmodem are more problematic. Federal regulations require that the
wireless driver code be inaccessable to the user and ltmodem
development seems to have stopped, but the driver is solid on my T23.
> Flame me, please, i wear asbestos clothing and i eat fire for breakfast.
Flame? Nahhhh, not from this quarter.
- Nate >>
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